as-engine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1,

(No Model.)

L. H. NASH.

GAS ENGINE.

Patented Feb. 6

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UNITED STATES PATENT @FFlCE.

LEWIS NASH, OF'BBOOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL METER COMPANY, OF NEWYORK, N. Y.

GAS-ENGINE.

V SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,902, datedFebruary 6, 1883.

Application filed May 19, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LEWIS HALLQGK NASH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Gas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

I have improved that class of motors in The invention consists, first,in providing a valve and lighter combined in one piece, operated by aneccentric or crank, which shall perform all the functions of admittingthe gases, cutting off the supply, lighting the charge, allowing thegases to expand, driving the piston forward until the expansive force"is exhausted, allowing the spent gasesto con tract or condense, therebyproducing partial vacuum,whereby the piston is returned through aportion of its stroke by atmospheric pressure acting against itsexternal end, andthen discharging-the waste gases through the inlet.port; and, second, in the method of lighting the gases in the cylinder,which consists of a series of jets lighted one after another, and in areservoir or chamber, by means of which a continuous flow of gas issecured, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is'a longitudinal section on the line as w ofFig. 2, showing in elevation the relative operative movements of thepiston and valve, one side only of the piston and cylinder being shown.Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the cylinder and valve-casing, withthe piston and valve removed,on the liue2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section on the line a9 00, Fig. 2, showing the position ofthe piston and valve at the instant the valve closes and ignition takesplace. Fig. 4. is alike section, showing theinlet-ports uncovered inposition for free admission of gas and air to the cylinder. Fig.

5 is a longitudinal section through the valve on the line .2 z of Fig.2, showing the lighter- R is a reservoir, into which gas is admittedthrough the pipe 1 and from which thejet J is supplied in a continuousstream through the passage (1, and from which it passes to the cylinderthrough the opening m.

and E, and serves as an inlet for the air, and an outlet for wastegases.

i K is that portion of the valve forming in this case what istechnically known as the shield, and its function is to prevent theignition of the gas in the cylinder until the parts assume the positionshown in Figs. 1

and 3. There is an opening, (I, through the valve, which connects thereservoir with the lighter space L, and by which the gas is sup- ,pliedto the jet J. The purpose of this jet is to light jet n at every strokewhen the valve is in the position shown in Fig. 3, while the purpose ofjet n is to light'the gases in the cylinder 0. i

n represents a passage which connects with the passage 01, and throughwhich a jet of gas enters the cylinder, its function being to ignite thegas'in the cylinder when it reaches the port E.

H is-a passage through which the gas escaping from the reservoir R andnot consumed by the jet J can pass to the cylinder through E. This is amatter of much importance, for without this provision all the gaspassing through d from B when the jet is not burning would remain inchamber L or pass into the open air.

T, Fig. 5, is an external jet, supplied with gas from the pipe I andkept constantly burning, its office being to light the jet J at everyrevolutionof the engine.

Theexternal lighter, T, burns continuously,

The chamber V registers withthe' ports 0 and its purpose is to light thejet J at each stroke of the piston when the valve is in the positionshown in Fig. 5, the jet a serving to light the gases in the cylinder 0,and both jets are extinguished at every stroke.

In the operation of the engine, the valve being in the position shown inFigs. 4 and 5, the jets J and 01. having been extinguished by theprevious stroke of the piston, the permanent jet T lights jet J. Gas,entering through pipe I, supplies J and fills the reservoir B throughthe passage 01, and enters the cylinder through the passage m, thevalve, moving back into the position shown in Fig. 3, is closing thereservoir R and displacing the gas therein. Now, when the valve ismoving into the position shown in Fig. 3,'there is a time when chamber Lis opening communication with port-E, and

when this opening is wide enough thejet J will lightjet at; but theexact amount of opening required for the flame from J to lightn cannotbe absolutely determined, so there is a time While this opening is beingmade any instant of which the ignition may take place. This movement ofthe valve may amount to onesixteenth of an inch. It is important thatinlet I be closed before this explosion does take place, and thereforeto make sure that the inlet I shall always be closed such closing ismade just before the port E is opened, thus shutting off the supply ofgas from jet J; but

the valve has yet a'small movement to make before port E is openedenough to light n, and

as the supply of gas tojet J is cut off this jet would be extinguishedbefore this, if it were not for reservoir R. Since reservoir R is fullof gas and valve K is moving into it, the gas in R can only escapethrough passage d and out throughjet J and 12. Therefore, although inletI and the jets J and n are still maintained by gas from" reservoir Rwhile the valve isopening port E until the ignition of the charge, stillall the gas in R will be forced out through J and n as the valve movesbackward, said gas being burned until the valve has completed itsbackward stroke, at which time jets J and n will be extinguished. Thusit will be seen that by means of reservoir R the stream of gas isprolonged through J and it until after the ignition of the charge, thusmaking the lighter act quickly and certainly. The valve now begins itsforward stroke, and reservoir R is receiving the waste gases from thecylinder until I is opened again, when the gas through d fills thereservoir again, forcing out some of the gases from the reservoir; butbefore the fuel begins to waste through the passage m and be lost withthedischarged gases from C the piston begins its next forward stroke,and the gas from the reservoir is required for the next charge. 7

When the engine is not running at full power the charge of gasin thecylinder 0 is not large ticularly true of small motors.

up until the instant of explosion without the use of an independentcut-off or a check-valve in the gas-passage to prevent the gas beingblown back into the supply-pipe when the explosion occurs.

It is not essential that gas only should be admitted to the receiver R,for a mixture of air and gas in proper proportion will produce the sameresults, and in some cases it will be advantageous to so proportion andmix the air and gas before its admission to the reservoir, for acontinuous jet of mixed air and gas forced into the lighting-chamberwould continue to burn after all the air it contained had been consumed.

hen gas alone is used the jet J should be so directed that it will carryall the waste gases out of the chamber through the port a, so that itmay be filled with pure air; otherwise, in-

stead of igniting the jet 01. when the shield K uncovers the port E, itwould be extinguished by excess of gas in the chamber. This is par- Inlarge machines the direction given'the jet would not be material, i'orinsuch cases the chamber would contain so large a quantity of air as notto be materially affected by the comparatively small accumulation ofwaste gases.

The construction might be so modified as to dispense with the receiver Bwhen such a systein ofjets are employed by providing an additionalinlet, as at I, placing a check-valve in the passage leading to thesupply-pipe, and providing asuitable cut-off to prevent the inflow ofgas to the cylinder during the outflow of the waste gases, and againadmit it when such gases have escaped and fresh air is entering thecylinder.

In Figs. 1 and 3 the positions of the valve and piston are shown at theinstant the mixed air and gases in the cylinder are ignited, thesections of the valve K K having closed all the ports and passagesexcept H, which opens into the now closed lighter-chamber L. The

. gases,havin g beenignited,now expand, driving the piston rapidlyforward, in the meantime losing their heat by expansion and radiation,

so that when thepiston has reached the outer .end of its stroke thepressure of the gases in the cylinder will have fallen to that of theatmosphere. While the crank is moving over the center and beginning itsbackward stroke the gases will be giving out moreof their heat to thecylinder, so that when the piston is just beginning its backward strokethe pressure of the gases within the cylinder will be made less thanthat of the external air. Hence the external air will force in thepiston until the gases in the cylinder have been raised to the pressureof the atmosphere, when the valve opens, allowing them to escape intothe air at the time the eccentric S has reached the position indicatedat2. The section K of the valve now opens th eport E, and the waste gasespass out through V and into the open air until the crack 0 arrives atthe point 0 The piston, now advancing, draws in air through the passagesO, V, and E, and gas through m and H until the crank arrives at thepoint indicated by 0, when the valve again-closes the ports E andm, andat the same time opening communication between the lighter space L andthe port E, so that the gases are lighted for another stroke. a

i It will be observed that air is admitted and the waste gasesdischarged through the same port, which admits of the use of a verysimple valve mechanism.

I=twillalso be observedlthat the engine may be made. douhle-actin g byproviding a valve and system of lighters for each end of the cylinder.

Referring tothe lighting system, it willbeobserved that, in addition tothe jets T and J heretofore employed, 1 have provided a jet, a,

so located as to enter the port E at the moment when it is desired thatignition shall take place when it will quickly catch the flame from thechamber and communicate it to the gases in the cylinder.

The operation is as follows: The valve being in the position shown inFig.5, the jet J passes out from the chamber L, and is lighted by theconstantly-burning jet T, and at the same time all the waste gasesremaining in the chamber L escape, allowing it to be filled with pureair. As the valve advances to the position shown in Figs.3 andfi thereisenough air in thechamber Lto keep the jet J burning, and all the gasesas fast as formed are drawn away through the hole H until the chamber Lcommunicates with the port E,

when the flame lights the jet n,which again.

lights the charge in the cylinder. Both jets J and n are extinguished ateach stroke of the piston. The function of the reservoir It is performedas follows: Gas is admitted to it at any point in the casing, as at I or1 the valve K being so arranged as to shut offthe supply to the.cylinder before the ignition takes place. While the piston is pressingout the waste gases the reservoir R is enlarging,

while the waste gases are escaping therefrom, and at the proper timesupplying it with such gases,and constituting in conjunction with:

the valve a force-pump, by means of which the jets J and n are suppliedwith gas to ,ignite the chargein the cylinder.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6 theres- PIVOlI'iS dispensed with,the operation of the jets being the same as above described, the gasbeing supplied to the engine through a valve in any convenient manner.tion of the inlet and discharge passage is the same as before, makingthe same combination? with the eccentric and piston as in theothercases. I claim The posi-.

1. The method of operating an explosive gas-engine, which consists inadmitting to the working-cylinder a charge of gas from a reservoir orother source ot'supply, and acharge of air from a separate chamber,igniting the same by successivejets, and finally discharging the wastegases through the same port and chamber by which the charge of air isadmitted, substantially as herein set forth.

2. A gas-engine in which a charge of gas is admitted to theworking-cylinder from a reservoir controlledby a suitable. valve, and acharge of air from a chamber formed between the pistons of thecontrolling-valve, and ig nited by means of a jet supplied with gas fromthe reservoir, conducted through the main valveand introduced into theworkingcylinder at the point where the explosion is desired to takeplace, substantially as herein set forth.

The. combination, with the reservoir R and the chamber L, of the jets Jand a and the cylinder W, arranged and operating substantially asdescribed, and for the purpose set forth. y,

4. The combination of the reservoir R, chamber V, lighter-space L, portE, jet n, and the IIO cylinder W, substantially as shown and described.

5. The valve composed of the sections K K K forming chambers Land V, andprovided with the passages d and a, substanstantially as described.

6. The combination of the cylinder W, port.

m, reservoir R, chamber V, and jets J and a, substantially as set forth.

7. The, combination of the cylinder W, reservoir R, port m, chamber V,ports 0 andE, and means, substantially as described, forigniting theexplosive mixture in thecylinder.

8. The combination of the cylinder. W, res

ervoir B, chambers V and L, ports at O E H,

and jets T, J, and n, substantially asdescribed, for-the purposespecified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

LEWIS .HALLOCK NASH.

Witnesses:

WM. M. BROWN, Onars'rornna G. WHITTEMORE.

